Univision Drops Trump's Miss Universe

Donald Trump's presidential campaign is off to a bumpy start. Since announcing his bid for the White House just last week, the real estate heavyweight has already come under fire for allegedly paying actors to cheer for him. And now, Univision, the American Spanish-language broadcast television network, has announced that it is ending its partnership with the Miss Universe Organization, of which Trump is part owner, as a result of his controversial comments against Mexican immigrants, Variety reports.

The offensive remarks in question came a few moments into Trump's presidential announcement, when the reality TV impresario broached the subject of immigration. "The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems," he began. "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists." Though he added at the end that "some, I assume, are good people," the damage, clearly, had already been done.

"At Univision, we see first-hand the work ethic, love for family, strong religious values and the important role Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans have had and will continue to have in building the future of our country," the network said in a statement. "We will not be airing the Miss USA pageant on July 12th or working on any other projects tied to the Trump Organization." (The network's news division, however, "will continue to provide comprehensive coverage of all candidates, including Mr. Trump, to ensure our audience continues to have access to all points of view.")

Univision isn't alone in reacting strongly to Trump's anti-immigrant statements: Colombian musician J Balvin, who was scheduled to make his first appearance on mainstream national television in the upcoming Miss USA pageant, has since canceled the performance, telling Billboard, "This isn’t about being punitive, but about showing leadership through social responsibility."

Maybe someone should remind Trump that as of 2014's mid-term elections, a record 25.2 million Latinos are eligible to vote in the United States. Just for starters.